Residential building Zac Blanche Monier

All the apartments are dual exposure and extend into a large, continuous, west facing terrace. The apartments at the ends of the building have triple exposure. All of them are served by an outdoor walkway with protection on the eastern side. The building is designed for easy daily bicycle use: each apartment has a cycle lock-up, protected by openwork clapperboard painted like garden sheds, with space for several bikes. The lift is also big enough to accommodate bicycles.

The building is very compact. For optimum use of space, the stairwell and lift are in a separate unit, linked to the main volume by a walkway. This open structure is surrounded by vegetation: lines of planting boxes with automatic watering systems accommodate climbing plants that will gradually wrap around the cables and nets stretched between the floors. The staircase thus becomes an integral part of the garden that the occupants cross to reach their apartments. The building is simple in shape, a rhomboid punctuated lengthways by running terraces on the western side and by walkways on the eastern side.